Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for one child who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2023 Full Good 19/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child moved on from the home and one child moved in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well decorated and presents as warm and welcoming. The child’s bedroom is personalised to reflect their interest in sport. The child and staff are developing positive relationships. The staff have developed better ways of celebrating progress and achievements, and have introduced a less formal way of gathering the child’s wishes and feelings which is working well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of the child’s social development. The child has been enrolled in a football team to support the development of friendships and social networks. The child enjoys various activities and staff are capturing the child’s memories of time spent at the home, creating a memory book to record positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time with loved ones is promoted. Staff have worked hard to improve the quality of time spent with family. Structure and boundaries have been implemented which has helped managed the child’s expectations. Communication is positive with the child’s family, and this has meant that the child’s experiences have improved and plans are in place for future events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place priority on education for children. The child who previously lived in the home had been out of education for some time before living here. The child initially attended a school run by the same provider. However, when this did not suit the child, a tutor was able to attend the home with additional education activities provided by another provider. Reports showed good attendance and good progress in the child’s willingness to read, including positive interaction with other children making, ‘brilliant progress’. The child currently living in the home is currently being supported to access education while an educational placement is sought. The child is making good progress in English and Mathematics, and shows a keen interest in Science. The manager is passionate about the child having access to a school close to the home and is working closely with other professionals to secure a placement as

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

soon as possible. A meeting took place with education professionals during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being is supported. Assessments are completed to identify what support is necessary to respond to children’s needs. Input is actively sought from the children’s family, social workers and other professionals, including mental health services, to develop an action plan that staff in the home follow.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 4 Children do not go missing from care. The child feels safe living in the home. When the previous child presented with challenging behaviours, staff prioritised the use of de-escalation techniques. This led to a reduction in the number of times that the child needed to be physically held.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff know the child living in the home well and act promptly when they become aware of triggers that may lead to incidents escalating. They understand the best ways to divert the child away from poor situations with some success. Staff carry out direct work with children through key-work sessions. The detail of some recorded discussions with children is variable and does not fully capture the level of support that staff offer to children nor the level of the oversight that is given. However, key- work sessions are focused on current risks or concerns and do identify how additional support would benefit the child or when staff need additional learning to meet children’s needs.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The child has a behaviour support plan which identifies the risks to and from the child and how staff should respond. The actions are clear, easy to follow and reflect the child’s current risks. The format of the behaviour support plan is new, and some aspects are being reviewed to make them more effective, such as the monthly scoring.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There are a number of ongoing concerns linked to the child’s ability to access social media. These are being responded to appropriately and have been escalated by the manager to partner agencies. Staff are alert to the risks and follow the strategies identified in the relevant plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced manager who shows her desire for children to do well and receive the best support. Staff feel supported and receive supervision regularly. Staff supervision and team meetings capture the child’s welfare, progress and include the how staff can development their skills. Supervisions allow staff to talk about their practice, reflect on how they have responded to incidents in the home and how they might do this better. However, following incidents, not all those involved have received the benefit of being involved in a debrief. This would support staff’s learning and improve the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has systems in place that allows for oversight of incidents and staff’s responses. Some analysis is less detailed, but the manager is assured that systems identify where staff need further guidance or learning to meet children’s needs. When staff need additional training, this is sourced, and staff feel more confident that they can respond to emerging behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team works well together, and staff are supportive of one another. Managers of other homes in the region meet regularly and have a supportive Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 5 network where they share good practice and contacts for professionals and services that can support children’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is provided with reports written by the independent person which recommend actions to improve aspects of the home. These reports supports the manager’s oversight of the home. The most recent report was not submitted to Ofsted in a timely way. It was shared with the inspector during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 6

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What does the children’s home need to do to improve?

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. The reports written by the independent person should be submitted to HMCI without delay. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the skills to respond to each child’s individual behaviour. Where necessary they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. This should include all staff involved in incidents in any debrief to benefit from learning in relation to those incidents. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Mark Broomhead, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 8 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted Inspection report for children’s home: 2634624 9

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